


Matchless

by leoba



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Avengers Tower, F/M, It happens in an elevator, M/M, POV Multiple, Platonic Relationships, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars / MCU Mashup, Stucky - Freeform, finnrose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:11:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoba/pseuds/leoba
Summary: Rey and Ben are sweet on each other, but they are hopeless. Luckily their friends Steve and Bucky are there to help.





	Matchless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Greyrey-lo (Punkpoemprose)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punkpoemprose/gifts).



> Thanks to LoveThemFiercely for her beta work on this

**Floor One, 8:53 am**

“Hold the elevator! Hold it! I’m coming in!” Rey Johnson squeezes herself into the elevator alongside the crowd of employees making their way to work in the Stark - _Avengers_ Tower on Friday morning. “Floor 76!” she calls out, hoping that the unit’s AI hears her voice above the chatter of the other people in the carriage. It’ll take her about five minutes to make it all the way up to her floor, then she’ll have two minutes to get settled before this morning’s meeting is scheduled to start at 9am. Bruce Banner is a good employer, but he does expect her to be prompt, especially to meetings with the Big Boss, and she doesn’t want to disappoint him. She smiles and nods at a few people she recognizes in the elevator, trying not to whack anyone with her computer bag while juggling her coffee and pastry bag.

“Can I help you with that?” The voice is familiar, and she twists her head around with a smile. 

“Steve! Sorry I didn’t see you there.” Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is standing back in the corner, towering over everybody, wearing a jogging outfit but looking cool as a cucumber. “Nah, I got this, but thanks.” The elevator door opens on Floor 8 to disgorge some passengers, and Rey’s able to move back closer to him. “Have a good run?”

He nods. “I did, a couple of times around Central Park, just enough to get my blood moving.” He winks at her, and she rolls her eyes. 

“Sure, grandpa. Hey, are we still on for tonight? You promised you’d watch _all_ the _Galaxy Force_ movies with me and we’ve only watched the first two. Do you want to catch up to the 21st century or not? Because I do, and apparently _Galaxy Force_ is the way to do that.” 

Although she was born in the 1990s Rey’d led a very sheltered life, due to being born into a cult followed by living her teen years in a very strict foster home. She hadn’t really started catching up with popular culture stuff like movies and music until after she’d graduated from college two years ago. That was how she and Steve had first connected last year; Jane Foster's assistant Darcy Lewis had introduced them and before long they were trading suggestions, and eventually they were doing things together. Sometimes Bucky would join them - he had the same issue, after all - but he’d get bored, end up napping with his head in Steve’s lap, and more recently he’d made his own group of friends and he chose to hang out with them instead. That was fine with Rey. He was a little scary, even if Steve insists the Winter Soldier is all gone and he’s just old Bucky Barnes now.

Steve looks down at her, his expression a perfect combination of fondness and condescension. Rey kind of hates it, but she’s willing to put up with it because he’s really okay, mostly. He’s fun to watch movies with anyway. “We’re on, Rey. I’m looking forward to it. Why don’t you come up at seven, I’ll have some food delivered. We can invite Darcy, too, and Rose if you’d like. And that friend of yours, what’s his name?”

Rey swallows the coffee in her mouth before answering. “Finn. He doesn’t like _Galaxy Force_ , so no for him, and I’m pretty sure he and Rose are going out tonight anyway, but I’ll ask Darcy later. That would be fun, she makes good popcorn. How about Bucky?”

Steve shakes his head. “Buck has something planned tonight with his friends, so no. I know your heart is broken.” He gives her a smile but she knows there’s at least a bit of hurt behind it; Steve’s not very happy she’s afraid of him. Oh well.

They continue chatting and the elevator stops frequently, letting people off and on, but when it stops on Floor 55 _he_ gets on.

 _Elevator Man_.

It’s not the best nickname but Rey only ever sees this guy on the elevator, and he is a _snack_. At least as tall as Steve, and almost as broad, but while Steve makes Rey think of American flags and apple pie, this guy makes her think of climbing a tree and tapping it for syrup. While Steve is golden and tan, this guy is dark and pale; a bizarro Snow White. And he has a ragged scar down the right side of his face that disappears under the collar of his starched white dress shirt, something you might get being cut by a broken beer bottle in a bar fight. That scar does things to Rey, especially late at night when she’s lonely and tired but not quite tired enough to sleep. She’ll imagine running her tongue down that scar and discovering just exactly how far down his body it extends. On some nights it extends very far indeed.

Rey’s trying to get Steve to laugh at her dumb puns. He doesn’t really like puns, but he likes laughing at her attempts to amuse him, so that’s a win, right? The moment that Elevator Man steps on she’s trying to explain to Steve that it doesn’t matter that a bagel isn’t a bird, it’s really about the play on “sea” and “bay” as bodies of water, so, you know, “seagull”, “bagel”? That’s funny, it is. She insists it’s funny.

Unfortunately, Rey doesn’t notice that Elevator Man has joined them until he’s already in the elevator and they’re heading past Floor 56, so he gets to hear the tail end of her impassioned lecture. When she finally glances up and sees him she suddenly can’t breathe, and she hopes to every god that it isn’t obvious. She’s always saying or doing stupid things when he shows up; he must think she’s so foolish.

She looks at him, and he looks at her. His expression is inscrutable, his charcoal grey suit and dark red tie expensive, and his hands, holding the slim leather briefcase in front of his torso, huge. He’s not wearing a wedding ring; she checks every time she sees him, just in case. He spends just a moment looking into her face, then glances at Steve, and the men do that chin-nod thing that men do when they’re saying _hey_ but don’t actually want to bother saying it. His presence puts a bit of a damper on things, and Steve and Rey are both silent after that, although they do play a little game of I-poke-you-you-poke-me that has them both quietly giggling. 

The upper floors of the Tower are dedicated to research, executive offices, and of course the Avengers housing (which is where Steve is heading, for a shower and maybe a cuddle with his boyfriend before they start their day), so there are fewer stops and soon enough they’ve reached Floor 76.

Steve looks at her in confusion when he realizes what floor she’s exiting on. The lab is on Floor 75; 76 is dedicated to conference rooms. “Meeting this morning?” 

“Yeah, we’ve been working on some new tech and Tony wants a report. You can tell it’s not too serious.” She heaves her bag higher up on her shoulder, then gestures down her body with the hand holding the cup of coffee, indicating her chunky green sweater (early Fall weather; chilly but not yet cold enough for a coat), second-best jeans, and Chuck Taylors that were once bright red but are now faded to a rather unpleasant Pepto Bismol pink. She shrugs, and prepares to leave the elevator as they approach her floor.

“Well, I think you look nice,” says an unfamiliar voice, and since by this point the only other person in there with them is Elevator Man that means it must have been him. It’s a good voice, deep and mellifluous, and Rey feels all the blood in her body rush to her face. She stops breathing _again_ ; her body can’t take much more of this abuse, really. As the elevator door dings and she glances at him in surprise, he _smiles_ at her, just a tiny one, and she smiles back because she just can’t help it, like she’s Pavlov’s dog and he’s her bell.

Apparently her brain is on autopilot, because her mouth opens and words come out. “So do you,” she says back at him, skipping out the door and trying not to look too stupid. Then she remembers Steve and turns around. “Oh-bye-Steve-see-you-tonight!” she yells as the door closes, and she sees Steve laughing and Elevator Man has a big smile on his face and he’s blushing, she’s pretty sure. _So embarrassing_. No more interacting with handsome strangers in elevators, no more!

**Floor 55, 8:56 am**

Tony Stark wants to buy Takodana Industries outright, but the owners won’t sell, so he’s decided to go for a hostile takeover. His lead attorneys aren’t convinced this is a good idea, and it’s up to Ben Solo to make the final argument. This is what Ben is thinking about as he gets on the elevator on Floor 55, which houses the offices for Tony’s fleet of lawyers, to head up to Floor 78, to Tony and Pepper Pott’s executive offices. 

Tony’s stubborn, but so is Ben, and he just hopes they don’t end up in a screaming argument like last time. The meeting will start with Ms. Potts alone so maybe it won’t be so bad. It’s a wonder he’s still employed, honestly, but Tony seems to like him. Tony’s also still afraid of Bucky Barnes, at least a little bit, and he knows that Bucky and Ben are friendly, so that probably helps too. 

But as soon as he steps into the elevator all of this whooshes out of his mind, because she is there.

 _Elevator Girl_.

He only ever sees her in the elevator, although he has gleaned a very little bit about her. She’s some kind of engineer. She works up in Bruce’s lab, the most secure floor in the building, and she’s friendly with Steve Rogers. In fact she’s talking to Steve when Ben gets on the elevator, something about seagulls and bagels - ah, it’s puns, that makes sense. Whenever he sees her she’s making jokes or saying silly things, and if she’s alone she’s usually smiling at something on her phone.

She's obviously intelligent; if she works with Bruce she must be a genius. He once heard her explaining some intricate technical process to Jane Foster’s assistants during a ride down, and it was clear enough that even he could understand, which is impressive considering he majored in English and then focused on corporate at Yale Law.

She’s also the cutest person he’s ever seen. (He can count the number of people he’s considered attractive in his life on one hand with fingers to spare, so maybe this isn’t saying much, but _still_.) She just looks so _comfortable_ , and healthy and happy. Her hair is usually tied back in buns, her clothes are always casual and relaxed but somehow manage to show off her figure, which is clearly stunning. Her eyes are brown, or maybe green, it’s hard to tell, and freckles dance across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. And her smile, it lights up her whole face. He would die for her to direct her smile towards him, just once.

He’s also terrified of her, because he’s afraid that she’s terrified of him. He knows that he’s frightening to look at; little kids on the street cringe when they see him. He’s big, and ugly, and has a nasty-ass scar down the middle of his face (the unfortunate result of some really bad decisions he made in his late teens). He got through all that, but the scar remains as a physical reminder of his misspent youth. There were reasons he made the choices he did, reasons that made so much sense at the time, and it's better now but the damage is done. She'll never be interested in him.

Elevator Girl and Steve are quiet after Ben gets on, of course they are, his mere presence throws a wrench in their conversation. He’s such a weirdo, stiff and out of place, with them in their normal clothes and him in this Brooks Brothers suit he has to wear to play the part of lead attorney. Finally they approach her floor, and she makes some disparaging comment about her clothes and Ben just about dies because when she heaves her bag up on her shoulder her sweater lifts up and he can see, her jeans are riding low and she has hips and a flat tummy and a _belly button_ and he thinks that belly button is the sweetest thing he’s ever seen. He thinks about how it would feel to put his tongue in her belly button and _that_ , that’s something new, he’s never thought anything like that about her before and he’s so overwhelmed he has to do something. So he opens his big mouth and says, “Well, I think you look nice.” And as she stares at him he can feel the muscles in his face shifting to form a smile and he hopes he doesn’t look as nervous as he feels. 

But then _she smiles back_ and he thinks he might die. And she says, “So do you,” and he _knows_ she’s just being polite but my god he doesn’t care how the rest of the day goes, because he’ll have the memory of her saying those words to him to buoy him up for the weekend, the month, heck, for the rest of his life. He can feel the blood rush to his face at the thought, and he can't help the grin that threatens to split his face.

And then she’s gone, shouting one last time to Steve as the elevator door closes. Steve is laughing, and he catches Ben’s eye and gives him a smile, but they don’t have time to say anything before the elevator stops at Floor 78 and Ben heads out for his Takodana meeting with Ms. Potts. He nods at Steve on his way out.

**Floor 92, 10:31 am**

“Floor One, please. You want to do what, now?”

“I want to set them up. You should have seen the way they looked at each other, Buck. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Never?” Bucky gives his sweetheart a crooked smile and raises an eyebrow. They’re on their way out for the morning, there’s a special exhibition on at the MOMA, on some film director that Bucky is really into, and he insisted that Steve come along. He’s still not comfortable going out into the city by himself. Maybe sometime soon he’ll be ready.

Steve blushes, and it’s adorable. “Maybe once. But Buck, really, I think your friend likes my friend, and we should set them up, like on a date.”

Bucky tilts his head and chuckles. “Do you have any idea how that might work these days?”

Steve has to admit that he does not. “I don’t. No clue. Hey, why don’t you guys come to our movie night tonight? That would be less pressure anyway. Rey and I are going to be watching all nine _Galaxy Force_ movies and we’re on number three tonight.”

Bucky wrinkles his nose. “ _Galaxy Force_. Is that the one about the little boy who’s destined to rule the galaxy?”

“Yeah, it is,” Steve confirms, “but he’s a teenager at the end of the second one and I think there are a few years between two and three.” He drops his voice, even though they’re alone in the elevator. “They’re not great, honestly, but they’re culturally important so I really want to watch all of them.”

Bucky hums in thought as the elevator stops at Floor 78 and Ben Solo steps on, his expression stormy. He punches the button for Floor 55. He always uses the buttons, told Bucky once he doesn’t trust the AI to hear his instruction right.

Bucky holds his hand out and they shake. “Hey, Ben. How was your meeting?”

“Rather not talk about it. Tony Stark…” He stops talking, runs a hand through his hair and works his jaw. Steve smiles and nods, but Bucky grimaces in sympathy. “Ms. Potts is fine, I respect her, but Tony just rubs me the wrong way, you know?”

“Yeah, he thinks he’s a badass but he can be a real fathead. I’m sorry, Ben. But we’ll drink it off tonight, right?” Bucky winks and Steve elbows him, and he reverses quickly, “Uhhh, actually instead of going to the bar, how would you like to watch _Galaxy Force_ at my place, with Steve and some of his friends?”

Ben visibly perks up. “ _Galaxy Force_ , are you serious? I love those movies. Are you watching the first one?”

Steve shakes his head. “We’ve already watched one and two, so we’ll be watching three tonight. It’ll be me and Rey, maybe Darcy - you know, Jane’s assistant, the one with the long hair - and you two and…” he pauses and turns to Bucky, because he’s not really sure who else Bucky is hanging out with these days.

“Loki,” Bucky says with a grin.

“Loki. Ah.”

While Steve comes to terms with the fact that he’s just invited Loki Odinson to watch space opera in his house this evening, the elevator door opens and Rey steps on. “Floor 38,” she says, before looking up from her phone to notice the rest of them there.

Bucky watches her carefully as she takes them all in. She looks at Ben first. Her eyes go wide and her cheeks go pink, and she very quickly turns to Steve. Glancing at Ben, Bucky can’t help but notice that Ben’s cheeks also flush, he stands up a bit straighter, and studiously looks at the floor.

 _Oh shit_. Steve’s right, they have it _bad_.

“Hey, Steve!” Rey says cheerfully, and steps over beside him, as far from Ben as she can get in the small metal box. “Running into you twice in one morning, this is a treat.”

As the two of them chat, Ben leans over to Bucky. “So, I know Steve and Darcy, but who is this Rey person?”

Bucky gives him the biggest shit-eating grin he can manage and says loudly, “Hey Rey, have you met Ben Solo?”

Rey, standing directly across the elevator from Ben, almost chokes, and the man’s eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. This is more fun than Bucky’s had in _ages_. These kids.

She gathers her wits enough to answer. “We have not. You’re Ben?” She directs the question to the man in the suit, her voice an octave higher than normal, almost a squeak. It’s fuckin’ adorable, and Ben seems to think so too. He can’t even bring himself to answer her, he just swallows and nods. A small muscle under his left eye twitches. Hot damn!

Taking a shuddering breath, Rey steps forward and holds out her right hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ben Solo.”

Ben takes a step forward, too, shifts his briefcase to his left hand, leaving his right hand empty. “The pleasure is all mine, Rey…”

“Johnson. Rey Johnson.”

“Rey Johnson.” He breathes her name as though it’s an incantation. They haven’t taken their eyes off of each other. Bucky is amused, but he’s also _moved_. He feels like there’s something important happening here. He glances over at Steve, who is grinning ear to ear. Bucky swears there are tears in his boyfriend’s eyes, and he slips the fingers of his own right hand between the fingers of Steve’s left hand and squeezes. Steve gazes at him, at his lips, and squishes his own lips together. It’s pretty adorable.

It finally looks like Rey and Ben are gonna touch. They’re standing only a couple of feet away from each other and their hands are lifted and they’re moving, slowly…

And then the elevator door dings and opens onto Floor 55. 

It’s as though a spell is broken. Ben pulls his hand back. “Oh shit, this is my floor, I gotta…”

Rey pulls back too and nods, and looks at the floor. “Yeah, okay, see you later, okay.”

And Ben’s out of the elevator before either Bucky or Steve can say a word to him, and a couple of new people step on.

**Floor 55, 10:34 am**

“Hello, Ben.” The man in question rushes past, out of the elevator, and doesn’t respond to the greeting. He looks stressed and upset. Loki rolls his eyes. _Mortals_. So emotional. Ben Solo especially so. Ben has a strong emotional core coupled with a sensitivity to the power of the universe that makes Loki think of Asgard. He probably isn’t even aware of it.

Loki is very fond of Ben; a chance meeting led to them spending hours together over the past few months, discussing the complications of their respective paternal relationships and certain _brainwashing_ , and Ben and Bucky Barnes are the two people Loki feels understands him the most right now, for various reasons. But they're still mortals, and that will always be a thing between them. He’s surrounded by mortals, really, including this particularly annoying one he’s arguing with right now. 

“You lied to them, Loki, right to their faces, and it was completely unnecessary.” Finn glares at him in anger and frustration. “Floor 38!” he yells, just a few levels louder than necessary.

Finn’s the project manager on the next version of the ARC reactor, and they’re looking at potential avenues to integrate Asgardian technology to increase its power. Which means Finn and Loki are working closely together all the time. And if Loki can get a bit of amusement by pushing Finn’s buttons, that’s what he’ll do. “It was arguably unnecessary, but it was funny, even you must admit.” The corner of Finn's mouth quirks, which Loki takes as confirmation. “Besides, you also lied to them.”

The quirk disappears and a sour frown takes its place. “That wasn’t a _lie_. I just... stretched the truth a little bit. They don't know, and it was the right thing to do because it bought us more time, which we need to keep this project on target. Yes?”

Loki grins with satisfaction. “I am pleased, for once, to admit you're right, Finn.”

Finn is left to figure out whether or not this is a good thing while Loki reads the room. Steve and Bucky are there, and Loki greets Bucky warmly and Steve more cooly. Bruce’s assistant Rey is there, too. She’s more interesting than most of them, more complex. She reminds him of the women of Asgard, strong and intelligent and in tune with the power of the universe; a bit like Ben, in fact. She spends a lot of time with Steve, he knows, and with Finn and Jane Foster’s assistants Darcy and Rose. 

Rey’s expression is … uncertain. Her eyes are on her phone, which is normal, but she’s frowning, which is unusual. She isn’t chatty, which is also a bit surprising. 

Before Loki can say anything to her, Finn is there. “Hey, Soybean. I’m heading down to the food court for a snack, want to come with me? I’ll get you something.” _Soybean_. Their silly pet names drive him crazy.

She doesn’t say anything, but nods her head and bites her thumb. Finn puts his arm around her and gives her a little hug. Loki must admit that this man, as annoying as he is to work with, is a good friend. 

He takes the moment to glance at Steve and Bucky, standing side-by-side, leaning on the back wall of the elevator, holding hands. Loki raises an eyebrow and Bucky shakes his head slowly. They ride in silence until the elevator stops at Floor 38 and Finn and Rey silently step off. Luckily nobody else gets on, so it’s just the three of them.

Loki breaches the subject first. He hates to seem curious, but… he’s curious. He _likes_ Rey, although he would never tell her that, and it made him uncomfortable seeing her so obviously unhappy. “What happened?”

Steve sighs and knocks the back of his head against the wall, and Bucky grins. Steve’s not talking, apparently, so it’s up to Bucky.

“Rey and Ben are sweet on each other, but they’re shy and awkward. They’d make a cute couple, in my book, so we’re trying to set them up. They almost touched hands just before Ben got off the elevator; it was…” he pauses, looking for the right words, and Steve finishes his thought.

“Emotionally charged.” 

Bucky nods. “Yes. Highly charged. Oh, so instead of going out to the bar tonight, you and me and Ben are gonna watch _Universe Strike_ with Steve and Rey and a couple other people.”

“ _Galaxy Force_ ,” Steve grits out, and Bucky laughs at his annoyance. 

“Maybe they’ll get a chance to touch hands during the movie,” Bucky continues, and waggles his eyebrows. 

Loki chuckles, too. _Touching hands_. “Okay, we can do that. I am fond of Ben, and it would be good to see him happy. And Rey… she is interesting. That could work.” He considers the aura of Asgardian-ness that they both have. They could make a good couple indeed.

At that moment the elevator door opens and a few Stark Industries employees step on, and their conversation ceases until they reach the ground floor. Loki accompanies the others to the museum; he’s curious about the show, and he figures it was only kind to give Finn a few hours to himself after the trouble he’d caused this morning. Loki smiles to think of it. 

**Floor 75, 2:48 pm**

“Okay, great, I think I finally got it! Oh, Floor 38!”

The three young women step onto the elevator, heading down to the food court for their usual afternoon coffees and muffins. Maybe they’ll have apple cinnamon today. Ever since the coffee shop rolled out the pumpkin muffins (to go with the pumpkin spice lattes) they haven’t regularly had the apple cinnamon muffins, which is a damn shame because those are Darcy’s favorite.

“You got it? You’re sure?” Rey teases, one hand holding the tablet and her other hand hovering just above it. This was the third time Rey and Rose had explained the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect to Darcy. On paper the SZE is described as a small spectral distortion of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum caused by the scattering of the CMB photons off a distribution of high energy electrons, but in practice it’s so much more than that. The SZE is the key to Bruce and Jane’s current collaborative research, and it’s not necessary for Darcy to understand its intricacies - she just needs to be able to crunch the data - but she likes to be able to follow the geek speak.

“Oh my god, Rey, I got it, thank you.” They all chuckle.

Rose hums. “Oh gosh, I hope they have apple cinnamon muffins today, I am getting really tired of those pumpkin ones.”

“Hey, that’s exactly what I was thinking!” Says Darcy, shooting her friend a wide smile. 

“ _Mind meld!_ ” They exclaim together, and dissolve into laughter. Rey stands off to the side, still concentrating on her tablet.

Darcy noticed earlier that there was something up with Rey, she’s just not as talkative as usual, and although she was so patient in explaining the SZE she could tell something was bothering her. She just hasn’t had a chance to ask about it yet.

“So what’s up, Rey? You’re all quiet and kinda grouchy.”

Rose nods and steps to Rey’s other side. “I noticed too, babe. We’re your friends. Spill.”

As Rey opens her mouth to speak, the elevator dings and Ben Solo from legal steps on, punching the button for Floor One.

Darcy doesn’t know Ben well, but she thinks he’s okay. Kinda serious. A little _big_ and _scary looking_ , but she’s used to dealing with Loki and Bucky Barnes so he doesn’t bother her. 

She gives him a grin. “Hey Ben, what’s up?” 

“Hey, Darcy,” he says, nods at Rose, then glances at Rey and quickly looks away. Rey, who has reverted all her attention to her tablet, ignores him completely.

Interesting.

“Seriously dude, what’s up? It’s Friday, you have big plans? Going out for drinkies with your buddies?” She knows that he’s been palling around with Bucky and Loki for a while, it seemed like an unlikely combination at first but after some thought, she figures their issues are similar enough they probably have lots to talk about. 

He peeks at Rey and her tablet, then back at Darcy. “Uh, Steve actually invited us to watch _Galaxy Force_ with you guys. If, uh, you don’t mind?”

 _Interesting_. Darcy knows immediately there is something happening here, and she wholeheartedly approves. 

She replies with gusto. “That would be fantastic, Ben, I’d _love_ to get to know you better. Wouldn’t you like to get to know Ben better, Rey?” Rose, who has been watching the scene unfold, rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, but smiles fondly.

Rey looks up from the tablet, eyes wide, looking like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Um.” She stares at him. He stares at her. They’re both blushing. It’s _adorable_. “Yes. Yes I would.” Rey squeaks, and looks as though it takes all her strength to admit it. 

Ben visibly relaxes, and gives her a big smile. Darcy’s never seen him smile like that before. It’s… goofy. Who knew, Serious Ben Solo with the nasty scar has a goofy smile? Looks like Rey has a goofy smile too.

Unfortunately Darcy doesn’t have time to push this further because the elevator door opens on Floor 38 and she is starving for an apple cinnamon muffin. She and Rose grab Rey and pull her out of the elevator, shouting their goodbyes; Darcy doesn’t check, but she’s pretty sure Rey and Ben keep their eyes on each other until the door closes between them.

**Floor 55, 2:50 pm**

Since his nerve-wracking experience in the elevator this morning ( _Elevator girl has a name, a beautiful name! She almost touched him! And then he ran away like an idiot!_ ), Ben’s been keeping himself busy with work. There’s another merger on the horizon and he’s been spending the last few hours making sure all the details are in order. It’s taxing work, and he’s heading out for a well-deserved latte. Most of the people in the building use the coffee shop in the food court on Floor 38, but Ben prefers the privately owned place down the street. The coffee there isn’t over-roasted and the baristas aren’t overfriendly. It’s perfect for him.

Ben steps on the elevator and pushes the button for Floor One. His brain is still caught up in the merger, so he doesn’t notice who else is there until he hears a women’s voice say, “Hey Ben, what’s up?” He looks over to see Darcy Lewis standing there with Rose and Rey. _Rey_. He says something to Darcy and Rose, he thinks, but Rey doesn’t look up and it hurts. Maybe he misread things earlier? Maybe she was just being friendly and he was being weird. He’s so bad with social cues. 

Darcy’s talking to him, and grinning, and he catches just enough to know she’s asking if he’s going drinking tonight. He glances back to Rey and says, “Steve invited us to watch _Galaxy Force_ with you guys, if you don’t mind.”

Darcy replies with so much excitement Ben’s afraid there’s something wrong with her. “That would be fantastic, Ben, I’d _love_ to get to know you better.” Then she elbows the woman beside her and says, “Wouldn’t you like to get to know Ben better, Rey?” 

Rey lifts up her head, finally, and she looks _right at him_. And the way she considers him in that moment, he thinks maybe he was right earlier, that she likes him too. Maybe he’s just stupid about this stuff. 

And then she says, “Yes,” in answer to Ben’s question, and she’s still looking at him. She wants to get to know him better. His chest opens and he feels good and he’s so happy he smiles, the smile he doesn’t use anymore because he has no reason for it. And she smiles back at him, it scrunches up her cheeks and nose and gosh, she has lovely teeth. He’s ready to kiss her, right now, but then of course the elevator stops on Floor 38 and Darcy and Rose (he’d forgotten they were there) are leaving and pulling Rey along with them. 

He watches her and she watches him until the elevator door closes.

Ben’s never been in love before, but he’s pretty sure this is what it feels like. 

**Floor One, 6:53 pm**

“Hold the elevator! Hold it! I’m coming in!” 

People are still leaving for the day, and very few are arriving, but Rey is on her way to movie night up at Steve’s. She managed to leave work a little early, and she had time to go home and take a shower and decide what to wear tonight. She’s figured out that the guy she likes also likes her (!!!!!!!!!!) but that doesn’t lessen the anxiety at all. He’s only ever seen her in the elevator and they’ve only spoken twice, and both times were today. She doesn’t want him to change his mind about her once he spends more time with her. 

She’s been texting with Rose constantly since 5:30. Rose is going on her fourth date with Finn tonight and doesn't need the moral support; this was all for Rey.

She opted for casual and is wearing the same jeans she wore to work, paired with a _Galaxy Force_ tee shirt featuring the heroine prepared for battle (a gift from Steve, given to her on the evening they watched the first movie), a quilted plaid jacket, black beanie and gloves, and her old Doc Martens. Her hair is down and she's wearing mascara and a touch of eyeliner. Just for fun she opted for her best bra and panty set. She feels cute and good.

There's one other person in the elevator and they don't look familiar out of the corner of her eye, but then the person says, “Hey,” and she looks up from her phone. 

It takes her a few moments to process that the person she's looking at is, in fact, Ben Solo. He looks like a changeling Ben Solo, traded for the real one from fairyland. He’s dressed all in black. Instead of a fancy suit he's wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt decorated with the _Galaxy Force_ logo that peeks out from the opening of a well-worn leather jacket. The shirt is distressed and the collar has been cut off, revealing the tips of what appears to be a large tribal tattoo across his clavicle. His leather boots come up over his shins, they're clearly old but high-quality, and seeing him in those boots makes Rey’s tummy feel warm. She's already nervous, but this is something else. 

The best part, if she's keeping score, is his face. He’s pulled his hair back on the sides in what appears to be a complex of braids, and over his eyes he’s wearing a pair of chunky black-framed glasses. His lips, though, are the same; pink and delectable. He looks softer, less severe than he does at work, and about ten years younger. It works marvellously. She wanted to tap him before, but now she wants to tap him twice, tap him _harder_.

After a moment she realizes she's been staring at him without saying anything, and he's really beginning to look nervous.

“Hey,” she says. “Sorry, I didn't recognize you at first, you look…” And she says _different_ at the same time he says _like a punk_ , and they laugh together.

“Actually, it's a good look for you. I just wasn't expecting it.”

He flushes, the tips of his ears turning red (they’re large and stick out, they’re _adorable_ , she’s never even seen them before), and she loves it. She wants to make him do it more. He mumbles, “This is what I look like when I'm not being a lawyer, you know, truth in advertising.”

“Oh, you're a lawyer!” 

His face opens in surprise. “Right, we never got a real introduction did we. Well, my name is Ben Solo, I'm Tony Stark's lead attorney, and my favorite food is lasagna.”

Rey giggles. “Okay. My name is Rey Johnson, I'm Bruce Banner’s assistant, and I don't have a favorite food, in fact I'll put pretty much anything in my mouth.” She blushes at the implication of her wording, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Rey watches as Ben pulls off his gloves, and she pulls hers off too and tucks them into the pocket of her jacket, along with her beanie. He steps up to her, he’s so close, he smells good, like rain, has he always been so tall? She has to crane her neck to look up into his face. He holds out his right hand and she holds hers out as well.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rey Johnson,” he breathes, and their fingers touch, then grasp, and Rey feels electricity and sees the rest of her life flash behind her eyes and Ben is there for all of it.

He gasps with her and there are tears in his eyes and she can feel one on her cheek. He wipes it off with the thumb of his left hand, their right hands still grasped together.

“What the _hell_ was that?” She's ashamed by how distressed she sounds, but he's not offended, in fact he steps even closer and leans down.

“Don't be afraid,” he whispers, his voice gravelly. “I feel it too.” His hand is still cupping her face and he’s leaning over and tilting his head and he's going to kiss her, she sure he's going to kiss her, and she's happy for it to happen but she has to say something first.

“I've never…” 

He pulls his face back slightly but doesn't let go of her hand or move his fingers off her cheek. “Never what?” His eyes are dark pools of sympathy and she could look into them forever.

“Never kissed a boy. Er, a man. Or anyone. Never been kissed.” She can feel her cheeks burning with this admission.

He gives her a little smile of camaraderie. “Me neither.”

“You're kidding! But you're so… so…”

“Ugly? Scary? I’ve been a monster most of my life.” He says it as though he's wants to be kidding but he actually believes it. “Honestly I've never met anyone I wanted to kiss before.”

Rey tucks away the last bit for future reference and concentrates on the first issue. “I was going to say attractive. _Hot_.”

His eyes widen in shock. “You think I'm hot?”

“Are you kidding? You’re the hottest person I've ever met.”

He flushes hard, again. “I think you’re the cutest person I've ever met.”

“Really???”

“Yes.”

Rey swallows and looks at his mouth. His lips are pink and plump and so, so inviting. “Will you be my first?”

The left corner of his mouth quirks. “Your first what?”

“First kiss. To start.” She's not letting go of his right hand but she grabs the lapel of his leather jacket with her left.

Ben touches the tip of his nose against hers, and the warmth in her belly bursts into flame. He whispers, “Yes. Will you be mine?”

She’s fighting the urge to rub her body against his but she’s beginning to think it wouldn’t bother him if she did. “Your what?”

“Everything,” he breathes, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again and holding her in a gaze more intense than any she’s experienced. She feels naked, exposed, cherished, safe. “Be my everything.”

“Golly.” Is that all she can say? It is, but it doesn’t matter because finally, finally his lips are on hers and she doesn’t have to worry about talking. His mouth is soft and his breath is sweet, his body warm. She wants to enjoy this sensation forever. But she can’t, because the elevator dings and announces they’ve reached Floor 92.

Rey is only dimly aware of the chime and the whoosh of the door opening; what finally draws her attention is the wild _whoop_ of their friends, who have all apparently been standing in the foyer just waiting for the elevator to arrive. Maybe they were tipped off by the AI, Rey doesn’t know, but in any case they are all there: Steve and Bucky, Darcy and Loki, even Finn and Rose are there and they’re all laughing and yelling and… is that _confetti_? She has the most ridiculous friends, and it looks like Ben does too.

Speaking of Ben, he’s smiling down at her and she could get used to that. It looks like she’ll have a chance to. For now, though, she’s ready to snuggle up and watch the next _Galaxy Force_. She has a really good feeling about this.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Greyrey-lo (Punkpoemprose),
> 
> Thank you so much for your delightful prompt, which was flexible but had just enough guidance for me to come up with what I hope is a satisfying little story for you. This is a Modern AU, but a mashup with MCU (mentioned in your prompt) taking place in that universe. I heard a rumor that you ship Stucky, so I thought it would be fun to include them as a supporting ship (offering a lot of support, as it turned out!). There's a bit of slow-burning intimacy, as much as I could get in 6800 words.
> 
> Because you gave me permission to be self-indulgent I've worked in some of my favorite things as well. I love the idea of Kylo and Loki as buds, and have a longstanding headcanon that those two and Bucky would have a lot to talk about, so I put that in here. I also adore the fact that Finn in canon is a lying liar who lies (but only for good reasons), so pairing him up with Loki (who lies for funsies) was a treat for me. The idea of having the story set in a controlled environment was intriguing, mostly as a challenge to myself as a writer, hence the elevator. Finally, it was super fun to try to overlap the scenes from different points of view, a tiny bit of rashomon that I hope works okay.
> 
> I don't know which Ben Solo is your favorite, so I've given you a couple to choose from; Rey likes them both, and I hope you do too. 
> 
> Happy New Year!
> 
> All my best,  
> ANONYMOUS (at least until January 6th, 2019)
> 
> P.S. If you're curious, the title of the story is from the last line of "[Matchmaker, Matchmaker](https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/fiddlerontheroof/matchmaker.htm)" from Fiddler on the Roof.


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